Work Is Tiring Me Out

Work Is Tiring Me Out

 I seem to be constantly thinking about work and it’s getting quite hectic at work as we’ve won new business. I’m likely not allowed to talk any further than this about work, but I’m certainly feeling the heat.

I was reading this BBC article before about stress and it has a useful stress testing tool on there. One of the first questions I answered was, “How often do you find yourself being irritable with friends and family?!” and I realised that quite often I’m irritated by what my sister does or when speaking to my parents. It’s certainly something I need to work on. I’m thinking of taking next week off and perhaps booking a short holiday somewhere just by myself to somewhere nice. Anyways, here’s how I scored on that stress tester: stress test bbcRight now, I just have this really bad headache. For the entirety of this week I’ve started work at 8:30AM and finished at around 8:00PM. I suppose I feel overwhelmed with the amount of work that I’m doing. Whilst this is occurring I’m finding that I’m not doing as much work as before and my head just seems to be all over the place. The only good thing about this week is the fact that I’m proud of myself for going through with the presentation I had to give to the new graduates who had just joined the company I work for. It was in front of 30 people and that’s actually the biggest audience that I’ve presented in front of. I’m really proud of myself for doing that as I didn’t think I had that in me to be as confident as I was. It’s time to sleep.

5 reasons why I hate house sharing

5 reasons why I hate house sharing

Hate is indeed a strong word. However there’s a trigger that has recently forced me to write this blog post. Whether it’s anger or disappointment, I don’t know. I’ve now been living in a house share for well over 7 months now and I thought I’d list all the pain and suffering that one has to endure whilst living with other people who you don’t really know that well.

1. Number one issue for me is: The internet is slow

This issue has in fact triggered me to write this post and it’s something that pisses me off the most as I work on a search marketing team and the internet is… kind of vital to me. I can’t blame anyone specifically at this time, but these two new girls recently moved in and ever since they moved in the internet has been painfully slow. Slow enough to make me feel quite livid about my current situation. My theory is that they are downloading stuff via Torrent and its taking up all the download bandwidth, thus slowing the internet down for everyone else. I don’t know what to do, but if the situation continues like this then I’ll be turning off the modem for a couple of hours. I probably sound mental for even suggesting that idea.

 2. Cooking, cooking, cooking! One at a time!

God damnit! I hate the fact that you have to SHARE a kitchen. The fact that people don’t wait for you to finish cooking is what annoys me the most. There is clearly not enough for 2 people to be cooking at the same time, yet I’m finding that the people I live with don’t see this. It’s also quite awkward having to ask you to constantly move so I can get to the stove before my food starts burning. I mean, it doesn’t take me long to cook, so please wait until I’m finished and she is all yours.

3. Cleanliness

O-M-G. Learn to clean! I shouldn’t have to explain this one, but I will. I’ll start off with the fridge. If your food is decomposing then that means you should be throwing that food in the bin. You’ll find that your smell senses will come into play and will indicate for you the fact that your food has gone bad and your food is now making the fridge smell like a dog has just released his/her excrement after drinking a bucket full of bin juice.  Take. It. Out.

4. The only personal space is your room 

I really miss living in a family home, as the entire house is sort of a personal space. You know everyone quite well and there is nothing you’re embarrassed about. You can walk out the shower with pride and enjoy, with just your undies on and perhaps a towel if you’re still a little shy. Not in a house share, my friend. You’ll be waiting for those in the kitchen (bathroom is connected to the kitchen) to vámonos and you may have to wait a while if they’re the slow cooking type. I know I’m being selfish at this point, but it’s just so hard adapting to this type of lifestyle and living with complete strangers.

5. On the plus side: Using the washing machine

I can’t really complain about this. My house mates are pretty good when it comes to this. We basically have this railing downstairs that is next to a radiator. Basically, we’ll hang up our clothes on this railing and it will dry very quickly due to the proximity of the railing and the radiator. It’s only a small bit of railing, but it will hold a full batch of clothes that need drying after being washed. I’ll give my house mates a plus on this as they’re quick to remove their clothes after it has dried, which opens up that railing for others to dry their clothes. You guys are doing an amazing job regarding this, if you’re reading this. Keep it up.

I probably sound like I hate my house mates (I do actually hate one of them), but I don’t really; I just hate the concept of house shares. I’ve actually been looking at moving into a studio flat, and that’s the sort of place that I’d enjoy. You can invite friends over, and typically do whatever you want. We’ll see what my financial side looks like next year and I may possibly move somewhere else.

Meeting an old friend

Meeting an old friend

Today I met up with an old friend of mine from secondary school. I can’t honestly say that the experience was enjoyable as we went to this bar where they were playing loud music and it was really difficult communicating. I was trying to get a catch up as to what she’d been doing the past 2 years, but as I said, it was too difficult to communicate with the music and all. Then we went to this disco… where she and her friend were kind of dancing and staring at each other, smiling, as they were kind of dancing. I wasn’t sure if they were sober or if this was their normal behavior. Either way, it was an extremely weird experience… But it was good seeing her again and knowing that she’s doing well for herself! 🙂

Here’s a pic with me and her: (I’m not sure if I have any old photos to make a comparison from secondary school)

Old friend

Social Media & the Workplace

Social Media & the Workplace

Social Media has been a highly contested issue as to whether it’s a waste of time or something that opens the mind up to new ideas. In my opinion, coming from a workplace that was only connected to a local intranet, I feel that Social Media is a waste of time – but the internet as a whole is not. Working in a restricted environment does do damage to your work force as they are humans and from time to time people do need small two minute breaks to look at what their friends are doing or to have a look at their email for anything important they’ve been waiting on — just to stay sane. 

Social Media also includes websites like Reddit, which offers a vast array of help and information on nearly every subject you can think of, while websites such as Facebook, Google+ and Pinterest do not really add to learning new things, but seeing your friends who are having the time of their lives in Spain or some other exotic country. I feel that “Social Media” can be bad, but can also be a good thing. I think there needs to be a balance somewhere and employers need to strike that balance for their particular business to function well. 

Here’s a cool nifty social media & the workplace info-graphic I found on the inter-webs:

Social Media infographic

Info-graphic provided by Income Protection company, Unum. 

Trip to Kaohsiung (高雄)

Trip to Kaohsiung (高雄)

I recently went to this place called Gaoxiong (Pinyin) or Kaohsiung (TW Pinyin; 高雄) and it is the first time I’ve been there since I’ve been in Taiwan. Usually, foreigners will travel around and go places; however, little old me has just primarily stayed in Taichung.  I’m boring I guess. Although if cash weren’t a concern I’d be going anywhere and everywhere, so I need to be a little fiscally conservative if I want to survive.

I went with a group of friends and with my sister, and we met up with my friend’s relatives who took us around Kaohsiung on a sort of tour guide of the nice places in and out of the city.

One of those places we went to was a place called Cháishān (柴山), a mountain in Kaohsiung that has a monkey reserve sitting on it! Below you can see a few pictures I took of the monkeys on Chaishan!

Here are the pics:

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